Dave Raetz unlocks a gate within the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, which offers docent-led hikes to the Hangman’s Tree monument. (Christina House / For The Times)
Other sites within the conservancy include “The Sinks,” also known as the mini Grand Canyon. (Christina House / For The Times)
There are seven foreboding old sycamores in the canyon below the toll road, any of which would have made a fine impromptu gallows. A plaque erected by an equestrian group in 1967 reads: “Under This Tree General Andres Pico Hung Two Banditos of the Flores Gang in 1857.” (Christina House / For The Times)
